BEST ports in ICELAND - With a side order of Canada! Join us on the first leg of this month long cruise to the Arctic.

Do you believe in elves? Maybe trolls?

🧌

Well, according to the internet, 54% of Icelanders do...

However, after chatting with the locals ourselves,

they admit the actual percentage is closer to 70%!

They have even diverted a major highway to skirt around where elves are believed to live.

True.

You don't want to anger the elves!

(A fun little read: The Elves of Iceland. )

Personally, I think it's adorable.

And harmless.

It's why I call it:

'NICEland'.

We are now on a 29 day Viking Cruise to Greenland, Iceland and Norway,

after sailing out of New York City.

Why I'm writing about Iceland before Greenland you might ask?

Yeah well, we'll get to that shortly.

Our adventure continues onto our next chapter of this 10 week holiday.

Three and a half weeks in the USA is now but a cherished memory,

and we are on track to make a whole load more.

(Love this kid.)

First, we have a day at sea to get to know this incredible vessel, Viking Star, and to prepare ourselves for what wonderful adventures that lie ahead.

Whilst sailing north towards the Arctic Circle,

we will make our initial two landings on the

far eastern coast of Canada.

Cool...lets stock the ship with locally caught lobsters, king crab and other tasty morsels! I'm not kidding...we were about to be super spoilt.

Check this out...and all this is just from the ship's buffet - not even the restaurant!

---

Today is the Canadian city of Halifax, Nova Scotia,

and as you'll see from the upcoming photos -

I'm a man down. ☹️

Trev's crook, 🤧 and needs some time to recover, so I'm continuing on -

taking one for the team per se,

and going solo on a privately booked tour of Halifax

and a trip out to their very famous, Peggy's Cove.

It is here, that Canada's most photographed lighthouse stands proudly.

(For those who have read my previous blogs, you'll know that makes me a very happy camper to add another one to my ever growing collection.)

Halifax is also well known for its connection, sadly, to the Titanic disaster.

The search and rescue operations were primarily conducted from this area and

it is also where the victims were brought for burial, unless their families could afford to transport them back to their hometowns.

Therefore, there are three cemeteries here with their graves,

and I'll be seeing one of those later.

But first, my lighthouse.

Peggy's Cove (who Peggy is by the way, no one truly knows...),

is this picturesque little fishing village,

mostly devoid of people apart from a few locals and fisherman

who have called it home for generations -

that's until a cruise ship is in town.

That's the one part of cruising I'm not fussed with.

The crowds, and the disruption to what would be a peaceful settlement.

That said, I'm sure the tourist dollars are appreciated, but it really is a double edged sword.

So, I quietly made my way around this gorgeous place,

taking an enormous amount of photos,

and possibly obtaining my cover shot for my

'Lighthouses Around the World ' coffee table book I'm enjoying compiling.

But first, a warning!

Ok, duly noted, and then it's onto the rocks for me...🫣

It truly was a photographer's paradise.

Thanks Peggy!

Love your Cove. 💙

Next stop is the Fairview Lawn Cemetery, where we were to visit and pay our respects

to numerous victims of the Titanic.

The location where they are buried, is actually boat shaped,

which I think is a little unsettling. Kind of trapped for all time in that blastard ship, in my opinion.

See below, it was hard to capture in a photograph, but it was wide at the bottom left,

then rose to a point at the top right.

This next one struck a chord with me.

The number at the bottom of the tombstones, is the recorded order that the poor dear corpses were retrieved from the ocean.

Then this poor family...Only one was given a number.

I'm assuming they didn't find the kids. Utterly devastating.

I can't even begin to imagine.

It was a sombre occasion, and it really brought the

ship's sinking into reality for all of us there.

It's not about a hit movie.

It was a tragic disaster.

We learnt a lot here from our very knowledgable guide.

Like the words of Bruce Ismay, the former Chairman of White Star Lines,

(who owned and built Titanic.)

He always sailed on the maiden voyages of all his new ships.

Oh dear. He also was the one that ordered the number of lifeboats to be reduced from 48 to 16.

Read that again - that's down two thirds!

And yet, he found himself on one.

Yes, there is a lot of conjecture about that, but fact is fact.

He survived.

Only to never speak of the disaster again.

Not for 25 years.

That is, until one of his innocent grandchildren,

(who didn't know the rule to not speak to Grandpa about Titanic),

unknowingly asked him a question, upon finding out he had sailed before.

"Granddad, have you ever been on a ship that sank?"

His answer: the first time in 25 years he spoke of it...

"Yes, I was once in a ship which was believed to be unsinkable."

Wow.

Moving on.

---

After another gloriously relaxing sea day, our last Canadian stop was the far outreaching point of Newfoundland,

L'Anse aux Meadows.

L’Anse aux Meadows was declared a National Historic Site in 1977, and, in 1978, it was designated as one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites recognized for its

“global significance in the history of human migration and discovery.”

Impressive! And historically valuable.

Wow, this tiny settlement of now only 28 residents, marks a very important place

in the time frame of human history.

It is here, where Vikings made it ashore and settled North America,

beating Christopher Columbus by 500 years.

(Newfoundland is also known as 'Iceberg Alley', as it's not unusual to witness colossal icebergs just floating past houses, simply dwarfing them.)

Images courtesy of BBC and Canada by Design.

We were taken by bus to the area where they have found many, many ancient Norse relics. Here, we had an easy stroll along an elevated timber boardwalk,

which protected the precious tundra

and what lies below it.

At the start, we came across this very interesting sculpture,

aptly named the "Meeting of the Two Worlds."

This sculpture represents the meeting of human migration from the East,

through Asia to North America; and from the West, through Europe to North America. The two groups met when the Norse landed here at L'Anse aux Meadows.

Personally, I can't quite see it in the design, but hey, it is an important landmark,

and art is subjective, hey?!

I loved this awesome silhouette sculpture at the top of a hill.

Can you spot the ring in? 😉 👀

This is so very...'us'. 😁

They have recreated an ancient Norse settlement here, complete with the sod built houses with the turf roofs; (which incidentally enough,

is a huge thing now in Scandinavia, the turf roofs...)

And inside, it was warm and cosy - out of the icy winds and freezing temperatures outside.

They have locals dressed in period attire, telling the stories of the day,

and giving displays of craftwork and life at the time.

Who wouldn't want a viking ship parked in their man cave? 😉

These guys legitimately look like their predecessors. And proudly so.

Then it was our turn for some fun...

This character we are here with, was so very obliging for photos. And I actually found someone I was taller than!

Surprisingly, with the brutal reputation the Vikings have had over the centuries,

they weren't a tall race of people by any means,

with men averaging 5 foot 6, and women only 5 foot 1.

Overall, a very interesting day where we learnt a lot!

And check out our blood red sunset, complete with giant iceberg in the distance!

Happy days!

This iceberg seems to be flipping us the bird! 🧊🖕🏼

---

Another sea day on our way towards Greenland,

but we are loving these down days on this ship.

They have an awesome spa area below deck,

complete with heated pool, alongside a gas/log fireplace,

a snow grotto, steam room,

hot tub and a cold water bucket plunge. Also, in both the ladies and mens change rooms,

they each have a sauna and icy cold plunge pool, with plush robes, towels and slippers, hairdryers and products, all you need to do is to turn up.

All complimentary.

We spent plenty of time in there, especially after long days of walking in the

freezing cold weather.

Just another highlight of a Viking ocean cruise ship.

(By the way, I'm not a paid Viking blogger...I just love this cruise line!)

The snow grotto was an interesting experience, as was the cold bucket plunge. And yep, we did them both! 💪

Not to mention their two top deck pools, the one at the back of the ship being our favourite, as its an infinity pool.

I can't believe we were lying around this only a few days ago, getting sunburnt! Now, we are looking at an ice sheet beyond the broken ice in the sea. Amazing!

Don't worry, there is a bigger pool midship, where you'll see later on,

in my upcoming Norway blog,

I survived a 'Nordic Plunge into ice, commemorating the 'Crossing of the Arctic Circle'.

This afternoon they called us all in for an important 'Port Talk'.

You see, we were 'supposed to be' arriving at Greenland in the morning,

to stay over two days, in two different harbours.

Well, Mother Nature had a different idea didn't she?!

The heavy sea conditions and prevailing winds had packed both these tiny harbours with so much ice, that no one was going in, or coming out for that matter.

Our Captain himself hopped up on stage to explain it all to us,

saying he was going to head a lot further north,

to see if could swing us into a possibly more sheltered location.

Hopefully that would allow us safe passage in.

We were all of course disappointed, yet hopeful at the same time. At the end of the day, our safety and the ship's safety was paramount,

and our skipper has been sailing these waters for over 30 years,

so he knew what he could do, and more importantly,

what he couldn't.

They showed us and explained the detailed charts outlining the ice situation.

Remember, we were only recently all talking about the Titanic...just sayin'.

---

The new day dawned, and it was a solid 'yeah-nah' to Greenland.

That's Aussie for 'nope'!

Bugga.

So now we had an extra two sea days, on top of the scheduled one, to get to Iceland.

Good thing we LOVE this ship!

Oh and fun fact:

Iceland is greener than Greenland.

And Greenland has more ice than Iceland!

We'll never know for ourselves now, will we?

HAHA.

Excuse to come back?

Perhaps.

But to be honest, I'd rather miss these two small Greenland ports, than anywhere in Iceland.

Iceland seems to be on a lot of people's bucket lists these days, and we're no exception!

Soooo, here's where our wonderful Cruise Director, Cornelia, stepped in.

She suggested to some of the crew, that it might be fun if they lowered a tender boat,

and tried to haul in a 'chunk of sea ice', to serve with drinks!

As one would!

Brilliant!

The guys had never done this before, and I'm only disappointed I wasn't privvy to this activity, otherwise I would loved to have tried to video it as they were on the water.

I honestly have no idea how they secured it, and brought it on board.

Once they had it all hosed down to get the salty water and goodness knows what else off it, they had it around the pool and were serving shots of Aquavit,

complete with iceberg ice!

Genius!

The Aquavit I could give a miss, (tooo strong for me),

but I was happy to have the ice in my white wine.

Sorry to wine connoisseurs, but I like mine super cold!

Drinks on the house, again; Thanks Viking.

Great fun, and the crew loved it too.

What else are you going to do on an unexpected sea day?

Well done Cornelia!

With Trev still not feeling 100%, these extra sea days were a perfect opportunity for him to chill out and get better. He's pretty good at that - bless.

Rest up Hun, I need my wingman back for when we next go ashore, in Iceland!

By the way, he's not the only one napping in this photo... 😴

I utilised this time to write up my recent blog, our travels across the USA.

I just loved doing this onboard during sea days, especially whilst Trev rested. Beautiful people brought me drinks and food all the time -

It was brilliant for my creativity!

🍸🤪

Many of the crew got to know me, as I often curled up at a table for one,

to tap away merrily. At first they were sad for me, thinking I was working!

"Oh no!", I'd say, "If it was work, I'd be getting paid!"

LOL!

"Another espresso martini, Miss Amanda?"

"Oh, if I must! Thank you!😉"

One extra bonus on this cruise, is that we have run into acquaintances from many years ago, who still live locally to us back in Australia! What are the chances?

They were parents at our kids' school, way back in the pre-school days, like 23 years ago!

We had changed schools along the way, and naturally lost contact.

Not any more.

New lives, new friendships!

We spent many an evening enjoying the company of Bronwyn and Pete, had a ton of laughs,

ate plenty of lobster and drank more than our fair share of cocktails

as we watched the evening shows.

Mudslide, Pete? 😉

So good!

(This photo was actually taken on our last night, hence the city of Bergen in the background.)

This is such a benefit of cruising.

The friendships we have struck up over a week or more, have for us, lasted years,

and we now get to visit each other around the world.

Trev and Pete. Boys being boys!

Love it.

---

ICELAND!

Woohoo, we made it!

And check out the forecast - bearing in mind this IS summer...

Read it all...see the times for sunrise and sunset...

Yup, heading to the land of the Midnight Sun.

I also love the varied description for it being overcast. Too cute.

'Cloudy, with the chance of Meatballs...'

This Midnight Sun really messes with you. I honestly don't know how they do it. Especially the opposite - the Polar Nights. They don't see the sun out during winter for 2 months!

Not for me, Baby.

But we are on holidays, and longer days, mean you have more time to see stuff!

How eloquent of me - see stuff?!

🤷‍♀️

Our first Icelandic Port of Call,

is the town in the Westfjords region, known as Isafjordur.

At first glance, it seemed tiny, but we have to remember where we are now.

The whole country is only around 380,000 people.

So if the town has over 2000 people, it's considered rather large.

Surrounded by mountains that in winter are blanketed in thick white snow,

Isafjordur is also renown for the often incredible displays of

the Northern Lights they are treated with here -

unfortunately that is one thing we sadly will not be seeing this trip.

It simply doesn't get dark enough during these summer months. Towards the end of August, they will be visible, again, but not for us.

This is something we knew, and had planned for.

We really wanted to enjoy Iceland and Norway in the summer.

See the colours of the flowers, and enjoy the waterfalls.

And the endless sunshine - if you are lucky.

The Northern Lights will have to wait a little longer for us to witness them

Still on the list!

Yup, our list is still long!

Today was definitely a day for wearing layers.

And LOTS of them. I think we wore everything we had, starting with thermals, and ending in Trev's balaclava.

And this is the height of summer!

These neck warmers are a game changer!

Another cool offering from Viking Cruises,

is that at every port they give you a free shore excursion. Sometimes it can be as simple as a guided walking tour,

but when we were in Egypt a few years back for instance,

it was a full day's trip to the Pyramids!

They vary a great deal.

Today we explored on our own once we arrived after lunchtime,

before enjoying the free tour in the early evening.

This tour took us to the local waterfall, a sweet folk music performance,

then finally a visit to a traditional fishing village,

with the most authentic character I think we had on the entire trip!

You'll see...

First, the town and falls:

See the big 'dent' in the hills? That's known as 'Troll's Seat'

Of course it is!

🧌

The wildflowers were out in force.

The purple being 'Lupins' and the white being a 'Wild Parsley'.

The townships in Iceland are enjoying the few weeks where they actually can plant flowers,

before the cold sets in again.

Imagine that? Only weeks to enjoy flowers...

Then a quick visit to the first of many waterfalls we were to see in this amazing little country...

And now, my fisherman.

Isn't he just fabulous?

And I can rightly say, I think he was enjoying the cuddle!

He couldn't speak a word of English, but I think his eyes said it all! 🤭

Another tiny lighthouse photo (from our moving bus) and it was back to the ship.

We are actually coming back to this port in a week or so, and I have a full day's trip planned to head inland for the very famous and tall, Dynjandi Waterfall.

Today's visit was just half a day..

More to come!

---

Akureki was our next stop, as we circumnavigated this tiny island.

This time I had booked a private tour (as in, not a ship shore excursion), and we headed out on a bus tour towards what is considered one of the best waterfalls in the country. Godafoss Falls.

It sometimes is overshadowed by the more well known Dettifoss Falls,

which are the second most powerful falls in Europe,

and also the ones that were featured in the opening scene of the movie,

Prometheus, below.

Originally those are the ones I wanted to see, but most of the day trips visited Godafoss,

so that's where we went.

Happy either way - seriously, everything here is an utter treat to witness!

Godafoss not the tallest of falls, but the power and accessibility was impressive.

And yes, it was freezing and we were wearing everything we owned!

From here we travelled to Mÿvatn Lake, to see the unusual craters that feature in it...

So this is what the brochure showed me -

And this is what you see at ground (or lake) level:

Where's a drone when you need one?

(Just kidding, as much as I'd love to use one, I feel they are such an ugly detraction to scenery, and an utter nuisance for everyone else to have to put up with them.)

The boiling mud pools of Namafjall Hverir were next,

and I must say, wait till you see the cracker of a photo I took of Trev.

It was an opportunity just begging to be had!

Iceland truly makes you feel you are on another planet sometimes.

We couldn't resist...

Then my turn:

We're all class, aren't we?

I tell you, people were lining up to get their own shots like this after we left. 🤣

Last stop before returning the the ship, was the Dimmuborgir Lava Formations.

Here, the Icelanders have huge traditions regarding Trolls, as they believe there are many troll faces that have been turned into stone here. They celebrate 13 days of Christmas in these special lava fields,

and they all dress up according. So sweet.

If you can read the sign below, check out the cute names that the trolls have!

I'm only adding this next photo,

as we were told we had just walked through the tallest forest in Iceland!

😁

Only about 25% of Iceland has vegetation, so they protect it all fiercely. You are really discouraged from walking on grass or moss,

and you must NEVER pick the flowers.

Wow!

So what happens when we get back onboard?

A bar-tending competition between the officers was on!

We all had to sample the drinks, a few times, to decide the winner!

We were all winners.

Hic.

😵‍💫

I can't tell you how cool this Viking Cruise Line is.

Always above and beyond.

---

Next stop: Seydisfjordur.

After a stunningly scenic sail in, we arrived at this picturesque little town,

tucked right at the end of the fjord that shares it's name.

We were greeted with this fabulous view from our state room balcony. ❤️

See that slightly bent bridge halfway up the photo? That's got our names on it, I reckon.

(Too bad about the 'SS Minnow' in the front... 😉🛥 )

Yet another tiny town, only thing I knew was that they had a church which was

famous for its rainbow path,

but other than that, this was going to be a quiet day of self exploration.

Yes, we could've done a guided tour,

but sometimes it's better to follow the path least trodden.

This way, we found our way up to a gorgeous bridge by, yes, another waterfall,

and on our own which was even nicer...

then found some amazing reflections around the town,

at the end of yet another tranquil fjord.

Told you it had our names on it!

👍🏼

The lupins were everywhere, reminding me of the heather in Scotland,

and the reflections were glorious.

A nice casual day today. Strolling. Admiring.

Breathing in deep the clean, pure air.

Life is good.

---

Next stop was something I had scribbled down in my journal:

Stone eggs, and a lighthouse.

Guess what?

Got 'em both!

Welcome to the tiny port of Djupivogur.

With a population of just over 500,

this tiny little village opened its doors and arms to us in the sweetest of ways.

Trev and I first wandered alone, down one of its few, and yes, very vacant streets,

and found a house displaying all sorts of arts and crafts,

as well as having many hand collected stones and agates from the area, proudly on display.

Look, he made a lighthouse! You know what I've asked Trev to build for my garden now. 😉🛠

But the best part was the owner and craftsman met us and invited us in. He was so proud of his collection, as he showed everything to us,

as well as signing his visitor's book. He was quite the character!

He loved a chat.

As this village was tiny, most of us opted for the free walking tour, led by a villager,

which I must say,

gave us some absolute pearlers of info about the town,

and about Iceland on a whole.

First of all, did you know that 'most' Icelanders are related.

Really.

So much so, that they have an app that has all their genetic history on it...

so, you know where I'm going with this -

Yep, singles literally bump their phones together, before they bump anything else.

Just to dare to see how closely related they are.

Take a chance?

Or not?

Funny part of that conversation, as that they think this is completely normal,

and must happen in countries all over the world.

Ah, that would be 'no.'

Next little story was about the last local policeman they had stationed here.

He decided to not wear his gun, as that looked to rude and intimidating, and in the end,

he ended up resigning and moving away as he was bored because there was nothing to do.

No crime.

Apparently they reckon the worse they do is jump into friends' hot tubs and gossip.

And lastly, they were really excited as there are two new babies due this year.

Wow.

So cute.

So Iceland.

👶🏼👶

Now where are those stone eggs?

Found 'em on the way to my wee little lighthouse.

These granite sculptures are all individually shaped to match the eggs of each of the

34 birds that are indigenous to the area.

And last but not least, a nice little walk through some squelchy tundra,

and we got to the tiny lighthouse, and had it all to ourselves.

Perfect.

Isn't it darling?

Back to party onboard tonight, as its

'All you can eat lobster around the pool' night!

Like that's a thing?

On Viking it is.

I only wished I was hungry. All I could mange was 3 whole ones. 🐷

🦞🦞🦞

OMG.

So good!

---

Next stop goes down as possibly one of our favourites in Iceland;

Heimaey, on the Westman Islands.

I had read up on this place, and discovered that there was a massive volcanic eruption

here in 1973, that went on for 6 months!

They had extensive evacuations, and over 400 homes were buried forever.

Guess what we climbed then?

Yup, you got it.

The volcano.

But first, let me show you where our ship anchored, and the view out our window...

There's a story here.

Sorry Trev, I'm gonna spill.

It's not often your ship reverses into a tiny cliffside inlet,

complete with nesting birds, and a cave. So as this was all unfolding, in the not too early hours,

Trev remained sound asleep, and I was all excited, taking loads of photos as per usual.

Trev, bless his cotton socks, is no morning person.

He wouldn't get up to look.

So all I said was:

"C'mon Trev, the very least you need to do is just roll over and open your eyes."

"Please."

So he did.

"Oh shit" he said.

"Cool!"

He then got up.

Running joke now, "At least roll over"...

Once ashore, we had a free panoramic tour of the area,

finishing just below the volcano,

where they have built a museum dedicated to this disastrous event.

It had been constructed actually right over one of the houses that had been destroyed. The house therefore is the centrepiece of the exhibit, and besides the acrow props

holding the roof up, it is exactly as it was after the eruption.

Then the photographic display you walked through, complete with an audio guide, truly gave you goosebumps as to how frightening it must have been for the residents.

From this museum, we wandered out the back to see how far we'd like to walk up the volcano, and ended going all the way up.

That ridge behind us, is our end goal. You can just make out the tiny people at the top.

It actually wasn't toooo hard of a walk, we just took our time, and the views at the top,

as you can imagine, were breathtaking.

The sign on the way up showing where part of the town was before the eruption,

then now, is astounding. Like Pompeii. Half of it was buried. And the island actually grew by 2 kilometres!

The Earth is still evolving. And Iceland is the perfect example of literally where to see it still happening, to this very day.

Almost there, ta-dar!

Nice big chunk of solid lava behind us!

Mind the crazy wind noise in the mic,

but this video shows that we were right on the edge at the top!

From the summit, it was a careful walk down over the loose lava scree,

as we didn't fancy turning an ankle, making it back to the museum safe'n'sound,

where we caught the shuttle back into town for a delicious lunch.

And I mean de-lish-ous!

And if you ever see 'Happy Marriage Cake' on the menu in Iceland,

and you like rhubarb - order it!

It will be the best rhubarb crumble you'll ever taste, especially if it comes with the homemade vanilla ice cream, like we had.

On our way back to the ship we had time for a quick visit to the local aquarium where they are famous for a couple of special temporary residents.

Two adorable white beluga whales. Now I'm definitely not a fan of whales in captivity,

but these ones were rescued from a theme park in China,

are being rehabilitated towards life back in the ocean.

Albeit, in large open pens, as they are unsure if they could actually survive on their own, after all these years being captive.

These particular kind of whales and very friendly and playful,

so it will be interesting to know how they go.

The article I'm linking here, is a couple of years old, and yet we still saw them at the aquarium in July 2024.

Their release can't be far away now...🤞

We saw these pens in the inlet where our boat was, and if you are thinking of the movie 'Free Willy' this is exactly where the star of that movie was based on, Keiko, was released to!

Whilst we are talking about wildlife and if you are a bird lover,

and dream about seeing the highly sought after puffins,

Heimaey Island is home to the largest colonies in the world -

Over 1 million of the gorgeous creatures!

Unfortunately, we didn't get out to where they were, and I regret that now. But when you only stop for a day, its sometimes hard to divide your time and see it all.

We chose to enjoy a scenic tour of the island, the eruption museum,

climb the volcano and visit the aquarium.

As much as we often try, we can't do it all.

This island would definitely be worth an overnight stay at the very least, or even better, come when they have their 'Woodstock' style festival. It looks amazing set into the cliffs.

They also have a fabulously scenic links golf course.

Something for everyone!

As we sailed away from these Westman Islands, we cruised past a famous rock formation, known as: 'Elephant Rock'.

Here, our Skipper positioned the boat in an ideal position and proceeded to pivot on the spot to achieve a complete 360,

so that everyone could get a great view.

Trev and I parked ourselves on a comfy lounge, had a couple of espresso martinis, and lapped it all up...

---

Next stop will be our second last port in Iceland: the capitol of Iceland - Reykjavík.

With a population of 140,000,

Reykjavik is the world's most northern capital of a sovereign country.

I had booked a 'non ship' tour of 'The Golden Circle',

which is a very popular day trip out of Reykjavik.

This was to encompass Kerid Crater, Gulfoss falls, The Giant Geysir

and Thingvellir National Park...

As you can see, this looks like a great day, huh?

I was so excited for this.

Eight hours all up, picked up at 9, and dropped back to the ship by 5pm,

which was our 'last on board' time - then sailing away at 6.

Perfect.

Or so I thought...

Here's where things soon went pear shaped for us.

And this is worth talking about, as it was a first for us, and just letting you know,

it ain't always unicorns and rainbows.

Well, if you do tours from the ship, this will never happen, but sometimes they are up to four times the price than doing an independent tour,

(especially with our crappy Aussie dollar conversion rate),

so you have to weigh it up, carefully. I thought I had.

You also need to listen to your inner voice sometimes, (or as I call it, my 'spidey sense' ),

and you have to be adaptable.

First red flag was that the company didn't want to pick up us up from the ship,

and that we had to find our way into the city.

We had already docked and were a fair way from their 'depot'.

So, after a little convincing that I had that included in our booking,

they said they'll pick us up.

Awesome...

By the time they arrived, it was 9.30am, and that's only the beginning.

We were then taken to a gas station, where all the other coaches all congregated

and we were then assigned to our main coach for the tour.

Now its 10am.

(I started doing the math, and was getting a tad concerned.)

After about an hours drive through the stunning lava fields,

... we were heading towards our volcano stop,

but we first briefly stopped at a huge gas station/bakery/supermarket,

so people could use the restroom.

Cue my 'spidey sense'.

I thought I best ask the guide (who was so much fun by the way),

if we were assured to get back to our ship by 5pm.

His face dropped, like he was in shock.

"Ahh, no ma'am, this is like a full day tour, maybe 8-9 hours, plus traffic jam sometimes!"

Oh shit.

(Sorry, but that's kinda what we're in.)

He told us to stand by, whilst he got on his phone to see if he could

palm us off on to a shorter tour.

"Great", we thought.

I was optimistic!

That was short lived, once he eventually told us

that there was no way we'd get back on time.

We'd now have to find our own way back to our ship from where we were.

😱

If we had have gone any further, that would have been impossible, as it was so remote.

We also had no local currency on us, - (we left it on the boat, thinking we didn't need any.)

Iceland so far, had been pretty cashless, but that doesn't always transcend to

public transport, as we were to find out soon.

😱

So, we sucked it up, bought a yummy truck stop lunch, and proceeded using google maps to walk the distance to another gas station, where the local buses departed from, apparently.

Luckily, the one bus we needed, hadn't already left for the day,

so we only had to wait about an hour.

Yippee.

Two lost and lonely Aussies in the middle of nowhere!

#lonelyplanet

Remember, you have to keep your chin up.

I was just bummed we missed out on seeing those great sights! If the tour had've left at 9am, we'd have had a fighting chance!

Oh well, these things happen.

Our bus turned up on time, woohoo, and when we showed the driver

a picture of our ship at a terminal,

she knew which bus stop to tell us to get off at, and to change to another one.

Gawd blimey. We're not there yet!

Alighting at the terminal, and we still had no idea what bus next to take.

😔

Crap.

Taxi. Lets just grab a taxi.

No taxis.

Also, we had no cash.

Crap.

Wait, we found the right bus!

Pay pass?

No, cash only.

Crap.

The driver said we needed the app to pay pass.

We had no wifi.

You know it by now,

yep - crap.

When I asked the driver (who spoke little english) where we could find a taxi,

he just sighed and motioned for us to sit down.

This one is on Iceland.

Niceland.

Thankyou!

We ended up having quite the tourist ride, all by ourselves, on the bus back to the port.

It was with a huge sigh of relief and bows of gratitude to our driver,

who went out of his way to get us as close to the ship as possible.

Bless.

All this and it was still only about maybe 2-3pm?

Once onboard we ran straight into our mate Pete, who was so surprised when he saw us back so soon, and then he threw his head back and laughed

when we told him what happened.

He was on his way to the buses to get the free tour of the city.

We told him we just took it!

LOL.

But we had nothing left left lose, or to do, so we climbed aboard another bus, 🤣

and had a bit more of an education, got some fun photos, and finally I got up close and personal to some cute and fluffy Icelandic ponies!

What a day!

Needless to say:

"Another Espresso Martini, Miss Amanda?", was a welcome sight.

I've earn't it.

Trev's earn't two.

🤣🤣

---

Our final Icelandic stop, was Isafjordur, again, and guess what I had booked?

Another private tour.

"Save me now," thought Trev.

BUT ALL GOOD!

They met us straight off the ship, and it was only a three hour tour,

so we had oodles of time to get back to the port.

Phew.

And it was soooo worth it!

Being 100 metres in height, and just as dynamic in width -

Dynjandi Waterfall is by all counts, the most spectacular waterfall in the Westfjords,

and is often considered the most beautiful in all of Iceland.

The water must've been freezing, but these lads didn't give a hoot!

These ones are called Hundafoss, ('Foss' is Icelandic for 'falls'.)

They are all part of the series of waterfalls here.

You can easily hike up to approximately halfway to the summit.

The terrain is steep and often rocky,

but it is manageable if you are mobile and reasonably fit.

On our drive back to the ship, I managed to grab these shots from our moving bus...

... as well as the opening photo of this blog:

What a way to finish seeing this amazingly stunning country.

You have to bear in mind that we are seeing Iceland, from ship port to port, so I haven't been able to get truly inland, and as from my last little 'episode' you now understand why.

It takes time.

It deserves your time.

I would LOVE to come back. Come back, hire a car and see Iceland on our terms.

See the ice caves, and maybe some eruptions!

As I'm writing this up Iceland had turned to fire again as the lava has boiled

over the earth's crust, sending people fleeing, yet again,

from the hot mineral waters of the famous Blue Lagoon.

Yes, I want to see more.

I saw this photo recently on an Iceland FB page., only maybe 6 weeks after our visit...

The Blue Lagoon, with the Northern Lights, AND the lava explosions.

WOW!

I also wanted to walk through the Katla Ice Caves,

how amazing do they look?!!!

But they had a collapse last month, killing one tourist, and trapping many others. The problem seems to be that they are going into the caves all year round,

when maybe they should not be using them in late summer...

In the words of that cool tour guide on the tour we had to bail early from:

"We are just tenants here. Mother Nature is our Landlord.

And we have to look towards the sky or the land, before we decide what next we can do."

And bump your phones. lol

So yes, there is much more to this tiny Isle,

( it is actually about the size of the state of Kentucky, USA),

so I'd love to show you another version, another time.

We are now sailing further north, to pass over the Arctic Circle,

and to begin our Norwegian journey at the most northern,

permanent settlement in the world,

Longyearbyen, Norway.

It is only 800 miles from the North Pole.

We may need more clothes.

We don't have any more...

Yikes.

Signing off for now, you can read further on my Norway blog, once its up.

Until then,

its

Ciao,

M x